Cottbus leave drop zone in German Bundesliga

BERLIN, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Relegation-haunted Energie Cottbus escaped from the relegation zone after they beat Eastern rivals Hertha BSC 2-1 at home on Sunday.

With the home win, Energie jumped to 15th place with 23 points in the Bundesliga table and left the drop zone.

Albanian international Ervin Skela won the match for Energie with a free-kick in the 41st minute and and a penalty in the 63rd minute.

It was Energie's sixth win in the 10th Bundesliga meeting with Hertha.

However, the game began in a tough battling way, with no quarter given on either side of the halfway line.

Although the home side started well, it was Hertha who had the first chance. Hertha's Brazilian international Mineiro opened the scoring after 21 minutes.

Cottbaus fought back and in the 41st minute, the Hertha keeper Drobny was picking the ball out of his own net after Skela curled a wonderful free kick around the Hertha wall and into the top right hand corner to pull the home side level.

In the 63rd minute, Hertha's Piszczek brought down Ziebig inside the Hertha penalty area, and the resulting spot kick was duly dispatched into the Hertha net by Skela.

The guests were unlucky not to equalize one minute after Skela's penalty when Mineiro hit the cross-bar.

Energie Cottbus have long stayed in the drop zone this season and are the first among the Bundesliga clubs to change the head coach.

In another match, Hannover 96 saw an unwilling draw with visiting VfB Stuttgart 0-0.